Environmental impact
Taking into consideration environmental constraints in the installation design. This takes account of: consumption of natural resources, Joule losses (related to CO2 emission), “recyclability” potential, throughout the installation’s lifecycle.
Different levels of priority:
- Non significant: environmental constraints are not given any special consideration,
- Minimal: the installation is designed with minimum regulatory requirements,
- Proactive: the installation is designed with a specific concern for protecting the environment (low ernergy building, green buildings, etc.).
The environmental impact of an installation will be determined according to the method carrying out an installation lifecycle analysis, in which we distinguish between the following 3 phases:
- construction,
- operation,
- end of life (dismantling, recycling).
In terms of environmental impact, 3 indicators (at least) can be taken into account and influenced by the design of an electrical installation. Although each lifecycle phase contributes to the three indicators, each of these indicators is mainly related to one phase in particular:
- Manufacturing phase mainly impact the consumption of natural resources (steel, copper, aluminium),
- Operation phase impacts mainly the energy consumption (power losses cumulated during all the operating period).
- End of life is mainly impacted by the recyclability potential of equipment and material (presence of hazardous material, quantity of insulation material).
The following table details the contributing factors to the 3 environmental indicators (Fig. D5).
| Indicators | Contributors |
|---|---|
| Natural resources consumption | Mass and type of conductor material: copper, steel, aluminium |
| Power consumption | Joule losses in conductors, transformers, no-load losses of transformers |
| "Recyclability" potential | Mass and type of insulation material, presence of hazardous material. |
Fig D7: Contributing factors to the 3 environmental indicators
